EU changes its Bosnia policy

The European Union has agreed to change its policy towards Bosnia and Herzegovina, to allow a trade and political agreement to come into force.

At a meeting in Brussels today (15 December), foreign ministers from the EU’s 28 member states agreed that they would “decide on the entry into force of the stabilisation and association agreement” with Bosnia – an agreement ratified by EU governments in 2009 but suspended ever since – once Bosnia’s political leaders have made an “irrevocable written commitment to undertake reforms”.

It said that written commitments would cover “first and foremost” reforms related to the rule of law, governance, and social and economic policies. The commitments should also address procedural problems of implementation that have plagued the EU’s relationship with Bosnia.

The policy change follows the EU’s failure to force Bosnia’s political leaders to implement a constitutional change demanded by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), a court created by the Council of Europe, Europe’s top human-rights watchdog. The Council of Europe’s 47 member states include all EU states, all would-be EU members, and also Russia.

In a ruling in 2009, the ECHR demanded that the Bosnia’s authorities change a clause in the constitution that bars Bosnians who do not belong to the country’s largest communities – the Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims), Serbs and Croats – from standing for election to some of the country’s highest political positions. These include positions in the country’s three-member presidency.

After the ECHR’s Sejdić-Finci ruling, the EU stopped its stabilisation and association agreement with Bosnia from coming into force. Despite intense EU pressure and the potential benefits of the agreement, which would give Bosnian products free access to the EU market, Bosnia’s political leaders have failed to strike a deal. In 2013, the European Commission, which had seen a resolution of the dispute as a means of unlocking many obstacles to the reform process, responded by reducing the amount of money available to Bosnia.

Under today’s agreement, Bosnia would have to comply with the Sejdić-Finci ruling, but at a later date. A diplomat from an EU member state said that, if Bosnia “looks to address functionality issues, amongst others”, it would be “able to access an increasing proportion” of the money available to it as a potential member of the EU.

The change in EU policy came at the initiative of the United Kingdom and Germany. A diplomat said that a “confluence of factors” had created an opportunity for the new outreach. One was the recent change of leadership in the European institutions, including the appointment of a new chief of foreign policy, Federica Mogherini. Others were the gradual, albeit unfinished emergence of a new government in Bosnia, the country’s bad economic situation, worsened by floods this year, and widespread public protests earlier this year.

Speaking to a Brussels audience on 3 December, Hahn emphasised the parlous state of the Bosnian economy, saying that it suffered from the highest rate of youth unemployment in Europe, was the worst European country in which to do business, and had one of the worst corruption ratings.

He said that he viewed constitutional reform as essential. “For the moment, the situation is clear: we have to overcome the current situation and, like it or not, it is very related to the constitutional situation,” he said. “I am usually not focused on constitutional issues, but, in this country, a solution of the constitutional issue is simply a must.”

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Guy WEETS

another bad decision of the EU that will further erodes its support in the public opinion. It reminds me Cyprus and the failure to force the re-unification of the island, the failure in Romania to curb corruption etc.